Travel Behavior & Travel Search Trends

For the remaining months of 2009

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 Financial climate - UK Holiday & Breaks
Predictions said in 2009:
• Consumers will move towards “one big holiday” a year.
• There will be a reduction in “short breaks” and “city breaks” as a result.

One Big Holiday

Predictions

Short breaks
have not
really rung
true

What actually happened:

• Post Christmas numbers were lower than last year suggesting economical climate
was impacting on travel industry searches
• During March ‘short breaks’ and ‘city breaks’ searches increased against seasonal
trend suggesting people confident in financial situation for a short break holiday.
el Mole (Dec 1st) http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1133234.php?news_cat=&pagename=searchresult
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 International Financial Climate

• UK search volume was higher as people did more searches looking for better
prices/deals to get more value for money
• Australian search volumes were down which can be attributed to economic
uncertainty
• Germany had higher search volumes in 2009 compared to previous years which is
likely to be due to the Strong Euro

Due to: Deals

Due to: Economy

Due to: Euro

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 Financial climate – Deals
• Travel deal searches are higher in 2009 compared to 2008 as people are
looking for offers to gain more value for their money
• People are looking to book their bigger family holiday later on in the year due
to job insecurity
• We expect May to be a big travel booking period
• Recommendations are to push any offers and deals

Deals / Offers

Deals / Offers
Number of
searches are
up in 2009

Deals / Offers
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 UK - Business vs. Leisure
Whilst trends are down
for both business and

Conference hotel
leisure hotels compared
to previous years,
‘beach hotel’ recovers a
little towards the end of
the first quarter of the
year

Wedding hotel
• ‘Conference hotel’ is
has considerable
lower search volume
compared to previous
years
• ‘Wedding hotel’ is at
similar search volume
to previous years

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 AU - Business vs. Leisure

Whilst trends are down for both

Conference hotel
business and leisure hotels
compared to previous years,
‘beach hotel’ recovers a little
towards the end of the first
quarter of the year suggesting
that people are starting to think
about booking their summer
holidays

Wedding hotel
• Both ‘Wedding hotel’
and ‘Conference
hotel’ is at similar
search volume to
previous years

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DE - Business vs. Leisure

Business hotel
•‘Business hotel’ was
consistent with 2008 at
the start of the year but
volumes have dropped
slightly since mid
March

beach hotel
• ‘Beach hotel’ is
at similar search
volume to
previous years

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 UK Travel Trends

• Research indicates that people wouldn’t abandon going away on holiday but instead try to cut
costs, either through holidaying in the UK or looking for last minute deals.
• It also showed that twice as many Britons were planning to spend their holidays in the UK this
year and 60% were unwilling to give up holidays.
• The last two summers were two of the wettest in Britain since records began, so although there
have been increases in searches for UK holidays, people still appear to be looking abroad
where better weather is guaranteed.
• In 2009, YTD searches relating to holidays in Turkey and Croatia search query growth for the
more traditional British holiday destinations within the Eurozone has been relatively modest.
This is not surprising considering the weakening pound. In the last 6 months, the value of the
pound has fallen 11% against the euro.
• However UK consumers are still not aware how weak the UK pound has become and how little
they will be able to get for their holiday budgets. Looking forward to 2010 even more UK
consumers will look to holiday either further outside the Eurozone or travel within the UK

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 Australia Travel Trends
• Fewer visitors due to the global credit crunch has meant tourism companies are working
harder and smarter to survive, employing new strategies to stay profitable
• Smaller businesses with less investment and commitment are struggling to survive with
lower visitor number
• Forecasts range from 4%-15% drops in the number of inbound tourists to Australia in
2009
• The price of holidays and travel is said to have fallen significantly in recent months. Weak
demand has meant tour operators and agents have introduced heavy discounts –
however these cannot be sustained over long periods of time.
• Demand has been weak because consumers have cut discretionary spending
• Airline companies have been severely hit by the economic crisis and are making
cutbacks. This will have a knock on affect to the Australian travel industry as a whole.
• Consumers finding driving across Australia to be more cost effective than flying.
• However short stay, business travel is still required and so seems relatively unaffected
• Tourists are buying directly from operators at the last minute to take advantage of special
prices

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German Travel Trends

• Research suggests German tourists are going to be taking shorter trips and staying
closer to home
• Roughly 50% questioned are unhappy with German holiday operators. Avoiding
packages and booking flight only and arranging hotel separately. Not many people are
going away more than once a year
• The number of business travelers visiting Germany has been going up continuously over
the past few years
• Most people are still planning for a summer holiday in 2009 - 57% plan to go away with
3/4 of the people planning a holiday plan to spend more than they did last year - could
be due to the strength of the euro
• Less people are going during the cold seasons to make sure they can get away during
the summer. The are also making sure they book these trips in advance
• Spa holidays are becoming more popular within the German travel market
• More people this summer are going to be looking for all inclusive deals

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 Fastest Growing Destinations

1. Bangkok, Thailand 1. Spain 1. Paris, France

2. Los Angeles, USA 2.Turkey 2. New York, USA
3. Porto, Portugal 3.Italy 3. Florence, Italy
4. Dalaman, Turkey 4.Portugal 4. London, UK
5. Orlando, USA 5.Greece 5. Sydney, Australia
6. Istanbul, Turkey 6.Tunisia 6. Prague, Czech Republic
7. Sharm El Sheik, Egypt 7.Egypt 7. Barcelona, Spain
8. Bodrum, Turkey 8.Germany internal 8. Bangkok, Thailand
9. Burgas, Bulgaria 9.USA 9. Tokyo, Japan
10. Oslo, Norway 10.Caribbean 10. Dublin, Ireland

nner (May 11th) http://news.skyscanner.net/articles/2009/05/002370-summer-travel-trends-winners-and-losers-of-british-tourist-traffic.html

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Internal Travel Focus

People are looking to travel more within their own

countries. This is mainly due to:
•Increased fuel prices and travel costs
•Poor economic climates

“There will be a ‘cocooning’ effect, with both

international and domestic consumers less inclined
to travel to destinations far from home”

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 Travel & Swine Flu
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8043527.stm
• Demand for long-haul holidays has held up well despite the swine flu outbreak and the
recession, says Europe's biggest travel firm, TUI Travel.
• Long-haul bookings in the UK were up 2% in the past two weeks from a year ago.
• It said customers were switching from Mexico to destinations such as Jamaica, Egypt and
the Dominican Republic.
• Separately on Monday, Thomson and First Choice Holidays said they had cancelled all
outbound flights operating to the Mexican resorts of Cancun and Cozumel until 18 May.
• It said that about 250 of the 2,500 customers that were in Mexico at the time of the swine flu
outbreak accepted its offer to be flown home early.

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 Top Trends for Digital Tourism
#1 Internet, Internet, Internet
• The internet as an information and booking medium will play a bigger role than previous years
#2 Mobile Services
• For years we have been talking about the trend for location based services and 2009 is the year this
is going to hit mobile search - concierge blogs, SMS marketing, what's on in your area
#3 Cross Platform Content
• As hardware becomes smaller, software needs to become cross-platform compatible - take a
picture, upload to flickr with pre set geo targeting
#4 Social Software
• More people will start blogging, videos, wiki while on holiday talking about their experiences
#5 Social Marketing
• People will be making decisions based on social network information - get your voice out there.
People are more likely to book a holiday if they can read reviews from other travellers
#6 Maps
• Open street map is going to change the way maps are sold to tourists. some business models will
be out dated and need to change
#7 Performance Marketing
• Companies are going to need to assess all marketing activities from an ROI perspective, SEO and
SEM are just the tip of the ice berg - you need to do more than just that

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 Outlook for 2010

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Looking Forward: 2010 Predictions

• In market internal travel is key – UK, AU & DE

• Deals & Added value will be highly sought for – UK, AU & DE
• Increasing flight prices will continue to have a negative impact on the
travel industry.
• UK consumers looking outside of Eurozone
• DE top destinations are within the Eurozone
• 09/10 winter holidays will be down – UK & DE
• Decrease in frequency for business travel but still a requirement – UK,
AU & DE
• Hotel Wedding market is unaffected and should become part of 2010
focus – UK, AU & DE